User blog:FireDrag1091/The Red Capital III
A day later... The Tower, The City... A bright and sudden light appeared overhead, beaming directly down into the stone and metal chambers below. A metal table was in the centre of the room, surrounded by a variety of crates and equipment. A long and wide screen that was mounted to the wall flashed on, its stand-by blue screen casting it's own light into the otherwise dark room. A door leading into the chambers hissed, as it soon began to slide into the wall it was mounted on—it's red locked light turning into a green unlocked light. Avgust stepped into the room, holding under one of his arms a hard-cased backpack and in the other: his helmet. He approached the table, setting the two objects down onto it as Svarog floated in slowly behind him. The Ghost looked over the equipment on the table, before turning around to the blue screen mounted onto the wall. Avgust flipped the backpack open, before walking over to a crate as he picked up the metal casing. Svarog turned around, narrowing it's blue eye as it examined the activity of the Titan. Avgust looked up towards his Ghost, as he soon removed the metal cap to the crate and hauled out some of the equipment inside. Survival equipment, sapphire wire, plasteel plating, hadronic essence and other materials like this. Ordering them on the table, he began to fill his bag with the equipment. The Titan also removed a line of wire, weapon parts and so on from the container. "Packing lightly, I see." Svarog said sarcastically, floating over to Avgust as it looked at the materials being packed. "We are running a reconnaissance mission, good idea to have equipment and necessary materials in case we lay over or have to improvise." Avgust replied, as he removed a cold-steel combat shovel from the crate. He swung out the shovel into its operating state, and examined the sharp edges of the flat metal shovel. "Improvise?" Svarog asked, as it watched Avgust flip the shovel back into a stowing position. "Thought you knew we are headed into unfamiliar territory, of course we need to be ready for everything." Avgust replied, as he stowed the shovel into the backpack. "I would much prefer we wouldn't have to get close enough to anything to justify using the shovel, though." Avgust chuckled shortly, "Then you revived the wrong Guardian." Svarog clicked, looking at Avgust as it floated closer. "Sometimes I do wonder. So, we are waiting for our fellow Fireteam members?" "That is correct. I am supposed to cover the mission parameters and objective with them." Avgust replied, as he folded the metal flap over to close his hardback backpack. Pulling it over his head, he heard a magnetic click that notified him the bag was secured to his back. Bringing his arms back around to be in front of him, Avgust flexed his gauntleted hands before he wrapped around to the other side of the table, facing the only door granting entry into the room. "Have any idea where we are going?" Svarog asked. "I've had a few guesses: London, Berlin... Vladvistok." "But no exacts?" Svarog questioned, "After all you do have the missive." "Not supposed to open it until I have my Fireteam assembled, Svarog." Avgust said, as the Ghost floated towards the door. "Thought you would know by this point." Svarog said, shaking itself in order to imitate the shaking of one's head. Avgust shook his head as well, looking towards the door as a hiss was heard. Svarog turned towards it as well, slowly backing away so that it could rest above the Titan's shoulder. The door stopped hissing, as it slowly slid back into the wall. From the white hallway stepped in a Warlock: an obvious Awoken by the appearance of the pale blue skin and the glowing purple eyes. Avgust knew who it was, it was very difficult for him to forget any sort of face. His expression turned stern as the Awoken's did as well. She stopped in the doorway, folding her arms as she spoke seemingly bitterly: "Thought I wouldn't have to see you again." "Teash Jev," Avgust replied flatly, "I see you have been assigned to my Fireteam, again." Teash seemingly rolled her eyes, as she approached the table slowly. She stood opposite of her old mentor, examining his features quietly. "Yes, it appears I have. Don't pride yourself because of it." "Didn't plan to." Avgust replied, straightening his posture. "Good." The two stood silent for a while, as Svarog looked between the mentor and the old student slowly. It seemed as if it was surprised to see that they would be working together again as well, given their previous experiences were less than friendly. Teash's Ghost appeared over her shoulder, as the Warlock shifted positions. It turned towards her, seemingly having a private council with the Warlock as Teash soon returned her eyes to Avgust. "Mind telling me what we are going to do?" "Running reconnaissance in some ancient city. Observing whatever they have there to report back to the Vanguard." "Great, so we are taking pictures Zavala and Ikora." Teash scoffed, turning her head away for a bit. "More than that. We are examining whatever they have down there, collecting information and possibly finding targets for further operations." "Still sounds like taking pictures, Avgust. We should be focused on defeating the enemies we know about. Old Dubai, Old Chicago, the Cosmodrome... the Moon." "If you remember what happened at the Moon, Teash... we suffered heavy casualties because we didn't gather comprehensive intelligence before we headed out to fight the Hive. That didn't end so well, did it?" Teash seemingly had a fire in her eyes after Avgust mentioned the Great Disaster, as she turned her head to one side. She stood silently for a bit, before turning her head back around. "Well we better make this quick, because I am sure you know we have more important matters to attend to." Avgust stared directly at her, before replying: "We will take as much time as we need to make sure something like the Moon doesn't happen again." "I get what you mean," Teash snapped back, "you don't need to bring up the damn moon!" The door hissed again, as the attention of the two Guardians shifted towards it. The door opened slowly, as the shape of a Hunter stepped through the doors. It was an Exo, with blue plating and white-lit eyes and mouth. A stripe ran down the centre of the Exo's forehead, painted a bright red. It was masculine by appearance, as 'he' turned his head around the room to examine Avgust and Teash. "Apologies for my lateness," the Exo spoke as he approached the table, looking at the crates scattered around the room. "I was packing myself." "Very well," Avgust said, taking the moment of silence to collect his thoughts, "Mind if we have your name?" The Exo shrugged, walking up to the table as he passed carelessly by Teash. He took a position between the two, picking up a packet from an opened metal crate that labelled all it's contents. "Name? It's Zareph-dash-four. What are both of yours?" Zareph looked at Teash, and after not finding a response from her he turned his head to Avgust. The Titan obliged, "Lieutenant Avgust Boris. I will be your Fireteam leader for this operation. And the Awoken is—" "You don't need to speak for me," Teash interrupted, "Teash Jev. That is my name." Zareph nodded his head, before he asked: "Is there a problem? You don't seem to friendly—" "You don't need to ask." Teash interrupted again, "Let's just get to the mission detail, machine." Zareph stared at Teash for a while, before he rolled his head back to Avgust. The Exo flashed his eyes, as if he was reacting with surprise as he sighed and asked the Titan: "Alright then. Lieutenant Boris, I can call you Avgust can't I?" The Titan nodded his head, as Zareph continued: "Alright, great. Mind telling us what this whole reconnaissance thing is about?" "I indeed can." Avgust replied, as he removed the metal-cased missive from one of the patches in his utility belt. He placed the case down, opening it as he removed the files contained inside. He looked over the files, before he collected the most necessary bits of information. "We are headed out to a pre-Golden Age city, running intelligence on the ground and in the air to collect information that might pertain to the possibility of us rediscovering technology and data that we could use to find our way into a second Golden Age. If we manage to find and gather this information, it is then our responsibility to return it here in order for the Cryptarchy to decipher and help in the replication of such technology and data." "So what are we finding? Weapons? Books?" Zareph asked. "A variety of things: weapons, records and other essential technologies that we can use to enhance or supplement our efforts against the Darkness." "Will be no good if we are killed there, though." Teash added grudgingly. "Okay! Yeah, we get that we might die." Zareph started, shaking his head, "Avgust, that mean we know what we are up against?" «Nyet,» Avgust replied, "we do not. That is why we are on order to be selective about our engagements, if there is any possibility we could be compromised and overrun: we are to evacuate the city." "Seems to be all we ever do anymore." Teash scoffed, not seemingly interested in adding anything to the conversation. "Great, so we don't know what we are up against." Zareph stated, "At least we know what we are doing in case we have to face anything." "Indeed," Avgust replied, "just be prepared for any possibility." "And where are we headed exactly?" Teash asked, "So we know what the possibilities are, Avgust." The Titan nodded his head, looking down to the information scribbled onto the stamped piece of paper. The second he read the location, something tugged at his mind. He wasn't sure what to feel. Surprise? Confusion? He knew something about this place, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. All that stuck to his mind when he read the name of the city was a phrase. The Undefeatable Red Capital. "Moscow." Avgust stated as he looked up to the rest of the group, "We are headed to Moscow." "Moscow, got it." Zareph stated flatly, turning the page of the packet. Looking at one item in particular, he turned back to the opened crate before looking back at Avgust. "Did someone really take a combat shovel?" "Moscow, isn't that the ancient capital of Old Russia?" Teash asked, "What could possibly be there that is important to the City?" "Technology and information, apparently." Zareph replied, as he looked at Avgust: "But seriously, did you take the spade?" "We know where we are going," Avgust said, ignoring the Exo's question before he continued: "We are headed to the Hangar." Avgust pushed off from the table, collecting his helmet from it as he headed towards the door. The door slid open, as he stepped through it. Zareph watched the door, an odd expression trying to make it's way on his metal face before he shrugged and headed for the door. "He isn't going to answer any of your damn questions." Teash spoke up, "Don't expect any respect from this Fireteam." Zareph watched as Teash turned away from the table, and headed outside the door as well. The Exo looked down at the pamphlet, before closing it and looking towards the door as he shook his head. "Answered four out of five questions. That's pretty good." Zareph muttered, before heading out the door himself. ---- Six hours later... approaching the Novomoskovsky Administrative Okrug... The storm beat against the three Jumpships cutting through the dark clouds. As precipitation attached to the ships, they immediately froze over into crystals. The turbulence rocked the ships, making what should have been a comfortable ride through to Moscow into something akin to a nightmare. Within the Outrageous Fortune, the otherwise dark cockpit of the Jumpship was made a bit more comfortable with the bright display. Avgust watched the monitors closely, reading the information they provided almost as quickly as it appeared. They were definitely closing the distance between them and Moscow with remarkable speed, but still the storm and the conditions prevented how much faster they could have gone. Svarog kept it's presence over the Titan's shoulder, reading the information as well as it spoke it's thoughts: "We will be in Moscow in six minutes by my approximation." «Khorosho,» Avgust spoke, "Start searching for any Fallen chatter. We will want to be able to keep our insertion to Moscow as quiet as possible." "Of course. Should I open a link with Teash and Zareph?" "Do so, we will need to discuss what we are going to do." After giving the command, the sound of a COMM channel being opened was made. The sound of static masked everything through the channel, as suddenly the voice of Zareph came through: "We approaching Moscow now?" "Yes, we should be entering the skies of Novomoskovsky any time soon. We will touch down there and make our way further into Moscow." Avgust replied, as he flicked a button mounted on one display. The blue display flickered, before it revealed itself as a scanner. "Well, seems awfully cold down there. You both sure you'll be fine down there?" Zareph asked as the COMM crackled again. "Of course I'll be fine." Teash finally said, "The cold is nothing." "Yeah, okay. You going to be alright, Avgust?" "Yes, I'll be fine." Avgust replied. "I've begun a search sequence for any Fallen communications, we should know in time if they are already there—and what their plans are." "We got any activity so far?" Avgust checked the display, before shaking his head. "No, we don't." "So we will be killed without knowing it, great." Teash muttered. "Yeah, can you stop talking like that please?" Zareph asked, before pausing for a while. His COMM clicked twice, almost as if it was resetting before he spoke: "Hello? Can anyone here me?" "We didn't go anywhere, rust—" Teash's COMM clicked twice. Avgust quickly checked his monitor, as the display for security flashed red. The Titan flipped a number of switches, and pressed a variety of buttons. The display flashed green for a bit, as if it established a connection. Svarog looked over to Avgust, before asking: "Think the storm is running an interference through communications?" Avgust shook his head, pressing a digital button on the monitor itself: the request to try to reestablish again. "Couldn't be," Avgust replied, "it didn't back in Yakutsk, and the storm was much heavier." Suddenly the display flashed green, as the COMM static cleared. There was a silence, before two clicks were heard again. Zareph's voice came through first: "Well, that was odd. Must have a bad connection." Avgust checked the side of his screen, revealing the signal strength was strong. "Couldn't be, my signal is still strong." "Then what could it have been?" Teash asked. "Jamming?" Zareph answered and asked. "We are headed through some place that could have Fallen." "I haven't detected any Fallen signatures yet, so unless they found a way to mask themselves—couldn't be them." Avgust replied. There was silence over the COMM for a while, as Avgust reached over to reset his scanner. It reset, but still revealed nothing. Avgust shook his head, as he tried to speak. Static came through the COMM again, as the display flashed red again. "C... yo... hear... e?" Zareph's voice came through the COMM, but was essentially masked by all the static. Suddenly, the link flashed green again and the signal strength revealed itself to be strong. "Can anyone hear me—" The communication was soon joined with a third click, a fourth, a fifth... a tenth, a twentieth... a hundredth, a one-hundredth and thirty-first. Teash was the first to respond to the sudden sounds: "We have one-hundred forty-three things connected to this communication link!" Avgust was about to reply, but more clicks aired throughout the COMM. He looked at his display, looking at all the 'participants' in the communication. A mechanical voice soon made it's presence known on the communication, speaking in a tongue only Avgust could understand: «Vy vedyet vstoopat' ogranichivat' ploshchad'. Vykhodit' teper'.» "What did it say?!" Zareph asked frantically over the COMM, as Teash replied as well: "What was that?" "You are entering a restricted area. Leave now." Avgust murmured over the COMM, as he checked the connection of the link. "Wait, you know what it was saying?" Zareph asked. «Reshayushchkiy predooprezhdenie.» The voice spoke again. "Okay, now what did it say?" Zareph asked. Avgust looked frantically around the display, as suddenly a high-pitched siren was heard from inside the vehicle. His eyes suddenly focused on the red flashing display, reading what it said: DETECTING MISSILE LAUNCH. The Titan didn't waste a moment, as he slammed on the COMM as the detection wailed: lock-on was achieved. He shouted over the communication line: "Teash, Zareph! Prepare for evasive manoeuvres!" The COMM line cut off, as suddenly Svarog spoke up: "Avgust!" The Titan turned to the single flashing display, reading a distance for something: 193 metres and counting down. Avgust didn't hesitate for a second, as he took hold of the joystick and jerked it to the left. There was suddenly a rumble, as the ship rolled forward violently as three more displays began to flash. Avgust lost control of the ship for a few seconds, as he was thrown back into his seat as the Outrageous Fortune preformed a roll down to earth. Avgust held tightly onto the joystick, pulling frantically up into his chest. He took his time to read the displays: IMPACT: DETECTION OF WARHEAD DETONATION OFF STARBOARD! HULL INTEGRITY AT: 54% ATTENTION: STARBOARD ENGINE DAMAGED! Avgust drew in what could have been his last breath, as he continued to pull up on the joystick. Svarog floated around frantically, projecting a beam towards the monitor as it scanned the information. The ship sputtered, as it turned and shot up by chance—saving the Titan and Ghost from crashing into the ground. The monitor then flashed, warning that the ship was on a collision course. Avgust swore, shoving down the monitor as he flipped a switch to open plating that was covering the windows. It was nearly pitch black, as the frontal lights of the ship projected out into the snow storm. There was suddenly the familiar shape of buildings that occupied the entire field of view, as Avgust narrowly turned his ship put of the way of one. Flames began to stretch along the window, as it became increasingly more difficult to see out of them. The port side of the Outrageous Fortune rumbled, as it brushed against a structure. The starboard engine began to make a cranking noise, as if a wrench was thrown into the intake. Smoke stretched and tailed across the vessel, as it rumbled violently. Avgust drew in a deep breath, beginning to lower the craft slowly. One of the displays flashed, warning he was approaching the ground too closely. Avgust quickly flicked on the vertical-take-off-and-landing thrusters, as the ship rumbled. It was descending too quickly, as suddenly the starboard engine clicked and stopped spinning. The Outrageous Fortune immediately rolled towards the starboard despite the VTOL working it's hardest to stabilise the rest of the ship. From the flames covering the window, Avgust could make out the shape of the next thing he was going to hit. The Titan let go of the controls for the ship, before yelling: "Svarog! Transmat us out, now!" Instantly Avgust was swooped up through a bright light, as he felt his internals roll over. He never liked the feeling of being pulled through transmat, but at least this time it was better than the alternative. He fell into the snow from the belly of the Outrageous Fortune, watching as the Jumpship collided with a concrete building. Surprisingly, it only hit the starboard and sent the ship into a spin—still holding together in one piece as it spun into the ground below. With a mighty thud, the Outrageous Fortune hit the ground as the VTOL thrusters burnt the snow and ice beneath it. The Jumpship tried lazily to lift itself off the ground, before it collided with it once more. It suddenly lost all power, as the thrusters of the port and VTOL stopped humming. All light faded from the ship, signalling that it has powered down. Smoke still billowed from the starboard engine and from all around the cracks of the Jumpship, but at least it still held together in one piece. Svarog appeared right over the Outrageous Fortune beginning to scan the ship as it returned it's blue eye to Avgust. It floated closer to it's companion, before giving the verdict: "Still in one piece, at least. Port, VTOL and internals are still working but the starboard is in ruins. It won't be flying anytime soon." Avgust walked over to the ship, pressing through the layers of snow and ice towards it as finally the fire which was running it's way down the starboard was put out by the anti-fire system. He climbed on top of the ship, reaching down to open the hatch that led into the cockpit. The metal door was pulled open, as the oxygen feed within began to puff out. Reaching down, Avgust sealed the the oxygen tank and took a look inside the cockpit. «Chyert voz'mi!» Avgust muttered, before he looked back up to Svarog. "Can we send a transmission to the City? Get ahold of the Vanguard Mentors?" "Let me see." Svarog said, before it created an orb of blue light. Digital information bounced around inside the orb, as eventually Svarog reformed itself into it's typical Ghost shape. "No, we can't. Something is blocking any long range communication." "What about Zareph, or Teash?" "I'm sure we can." Svarog said, "Ghost's can communicate each other within proximity. I can open a transmission, if you would like." "What are the chances that whatever that was can track us?" Avgust asked, as he hopped off the Jumpship and back down into the snow. Svarog looked at him, "To be honest, Avgust... I have no idea." "Great..." Avgust muttered, as he pulled the Thunderlord from transmat. He activated the blue-clad machine gun, as electricity ran down the wires and down the barrel of the weapon. "Try to track them, and patch them through to the Fireteam communication. We need to find a way to solve our problem." "And what would that way be?" Svarog asked, floating next to Avgust as he peered out over his shoulder. Avgust looked further down the street, trying to spot anything that could help them. He spotted a tall tower, with radio antennas and dishes mounted to it off in the distance. "This way." Avgust replied, before stepping off into the snow in that direction. ---- The snow lifted, as the storm that had been happening earlier had cleared out completely. There was a light breeze moving through the streets, as wires and street signs were pushed around by the breeze—their shapes rustling and shifting in the wind. «Krest na oolitsoo. Krest na oolitsoo.» the crosswalk speaker said, as a light flashed showing the green signal of someone crossing the street. Avgust walked down the middle of the street, as he looked at the crosswalk system in slight interest. He then shook his head, continuing down the street as Svarog continued to float above his shoulder. "Any activity from Teash or Zareph?" Avgust asked, as the Ghost shook itself in a way to suggest it hadn't gotten anything. "Nothing." Avgust sighed, as he continued down the street quietly. The crosswalk sign finally turned red, as suddenly the roadblock that would have separated the cars from the crossers lowered itself into the ground. A light flashed overhead, an obvious light post as suddenly the lights of the crosswalk shut off. The light post turned off, shattering as electricity folded down the metal post. The Titan instantly raised his Thunderlord, looking down all four roads connecting to the intersection. After spotting nothing, Avgust slowly lowered the weapon as suddenly the screen mounted to a building flashed blue, spelling out: ЭВАКУИРОВАТЬ. "Evacuate..." Avgust muttered, as the sounds of a vehicle moving were heard down the street. The Titan raised his Thunderlord again in the direction of the noise, as Svarog returned back to the bond within it's Guardian. Two bright beams of light cut through the darkness, as the green and white frame of what appeared to be a pre-Collapse military vehicle rolled around the corner and down towards the intersection. Red beams projected from the vehicle, as they targeted Avgust. The vehicle stopped, as Avgust was allowed to get a better look at it. From what he could see, there was no way for anyone to operate the machine because their was no operation centre. Instead, there was a module on the front that likely directed the vehicle. There were four large tubes mounted on the back, with a circular radar stationed right in front of them. By just guessing, the vehicle appeared to be a mobile surface-to-air missile platform. Something rotated towards Avgust, a tall tube that held what appeared to be a turret. He didn't even wait a second, as he rolled out of the way behind an abandoned car. The turret opened fire, chipping away at the frame of the car as Avgust crouched down even further. The Titan pulled a grenade from his chestplate, removing the pin before flicking the spoon out. Revealing himself for only a second, Avgust lobbed the grenade towards the vehicle before retreating behind cover. Hearing the detonation, the Titan stood back up as he angled his machine gun. The grenade barely made a dent in the machine, as the vehicle rolled forward and continued to fire at Avgust with it's turret. Returning fire with the Thunderlord, Avgust watched as the electric-covered silver rounds collided across the face of the vehicle—stretching the electric current across the machine. The turret continued to fire, ignoring the damage the vehicle was experiencing. Avgust roared, finding that his cover was slowly being reduced to scrap as he crouched back under it. Spotting an alleyway that would be able to provide ample cover, the Titan made a snap decision to run through the fury of bullets to find more reasonable cover. He took in a deep breath, as he weighed the Thunderlord and finally stood up—sprinting to the alleyway. A bullet penetrated his armour at his abdomen, as he cried in pain and slid in behind cover. "You alright?!" Svarog asked, it's voice ringing throughout Avgust's helmet. He exhaled, before nodding his head: "Yes, I am fine!" "It would be suicide to try to run face on. We need a different angle or we will be killed." Svarog suggested. Avgust quickly scanned around the alleyway, spotting a fire escape ladder that ran up the side of the building. The Titan smiled, "How about from above?" Svarog sighed, "Yes, that would work." Avgust stood back up, allowing Svarog to absorb the Thunderlord to the transmat as he took in a deep breath. Starting a run, the Titan leapt upwards as he summoned the light within him to boost upwards. Quickly grabbing onto the railing, Avgust grunted with pain as he tried to pull himself up. Blood ripped through his suit, as the filament designed to stop suit breaches began to fill the hole made. The substance stung the bullet wound, as Avgust instinctively dropped one arm to grab it. "Careful! This isn't a typical energy bolt from the Fallen or Hive. These are real bullets. So we do need to remove it later." Svarog warned. About to respond, Avgust was cut off by the sound of the ladder clicking—as if it was just about to give way. Jumping up quickly, the Titan used his boost to make it up to the platform before the ladder collapsed to the ground. The vehicle moved forward, it's red beams shooting around in attempt to target Avgust and finish him. The Titan ran up the stairs to the fire escape, as his side screamed in agony as the bullet shifted around inside his wound. The turret attempted to turn and track Avgust, already running out of it's operational range as it tried it's best to just shoot at the foot of the Titan. Stepping onto the roof, the Titan stopped and grabbed his side. Taking in a deep breath, Avgust prepared his run as he closed in on the edge of the building. Taking a step, he kneeled and pressed off—jumping into the air as he looked for the vehicle below him. Spotting it, Avgust used short bursts of his boost as he landed on top of it with a thud. The turret tried to turn to find him, but he crawled out of it's way and seized it from behind. Finding a gap in it's armour, Avgust threw his fist into it as he left a huge dent in the side. Thrusting both his hands into it, Avgust roared as he pulled off the metal plating from the turret. Exposing it's circuitry and sensors, the Titan smashed his fist into it as he summoned his arc energy as fried the internals of the device. The turret sputtered, as it eventually dropped it's barrel down into the hull and ceased it's firing. Turning to the 'brains' of the machine, Avgust stood up and stomped down into the metal hull as he cracked it. Yanking his sidearm from it's holster, he quickly flicked off the safety and aimed down into the crack and shot into the thing until the vehicle stopped rolling and came to a stop. The headlights and the sensors flickered, before they shut off completely. Avgust released an exaggerated sigh, sitting down on top of the vehicle as he placed his hand over his injury. Svarog reappeared over his shoulder, flying away as it circled the rest of the vehicle. The Ghost projected it's beam as it scanned over the vehicle, analysing every detail of it before it floated back to Avgust and stopped. Svarog narrowed it's 'eye,' before speaking in a chilling tone: "Not good." "The vehicle or the injury?" Avgust asked, using his free hand to flick the safety back on the pistol before holstering it. "Well both, but this?" "Was it the thing that shot us down." "No, because if it was we would have been in a thousand pieces at 40,000 kilometres away." Svarog stressed, "This is a S-850 surface-to-air system. Hypersonic missiles. This is a Jumpship-killer, and it isn't being operated by anyone. If this is Fallen controlled, then we have a serious problem." Avgust shook his head, placing his hand on his knee as he pressed himself up. He hopped off the vehicle, circling it as he looked over the details for himself. He stopped the instant he saw a red star painted over the white and green design, feeling something tugging at the back of his mind. It was familiar, almost too familiar. It was a daunting thought, and right now it wasn't anything he needed. "Did you get a good scan of the thing?" Avgust asked, as Svarog turned towards him sharply: "Of course I did." "How do we destroy it?" Avgust asked, as he tried to spot it out himself. "Well, the exhaust for the engine is right under the launch tubes for the missiles. That would create a really big explosion, though... because it is very likely it would detonate the warheads." "Not going to want to do that, then." Avgust replied. "However destroying the treads would disable it, and destroying the radar on the top would ruin it's ability to track any targets. We already defeated the operating system, so it won't drive anyways. But that leaves the missiles then." "Just as good if the ability to shoot is removed. Don't imagine anyone would do much with the warheads, at least right now." Avgust replied, as he pulled the Thunderlord from transmat and aimed towards the radar. Pulling the trigger, the machine gun tore through the dish as it sent scrap flying in every direction before it eventually short-circuited and quit. Turning the weapon towards one of the wheels, Avgust pulled the trigger again and destroyed the wheel, before taking another angle to destroy another one. The tread fell lose, as the top hit the snow below. «Khorosho,» Avgust smiled. "We know where any other units are? Or if any more are in service?" "From what I pulled from the machine, it is part of an intricate system of weapons. However there isn't much information. All we know is that there are likely more." Svarog replied. "Any idea what it could be? What or who is controlling all of this?" Avgust asked, "We did hear a voice. And we did understand it." "We?" Svarog asked, turning it's eye to Avgust. "You were the only one that understood it. In fact, you've been speaking like whatever this is for a long time." Avgust paused, looking back towards the Ghost as he looked over the details of thing. "You do not speak?" "No, but you do." He stared at the Ghost for a while, before looking away to look back at the red star painted onto the S-850. He hadn't even realised that he had been speaking a different language up to this point, because most of the time he just thought that he had been speaking regularly. This explained why Zareph and Teash were surprised when he understood what was being said over the COMM by the strange being. Avgust just assumed everyone understood what he said at times, because it just felt natural to him. "Never mind," Avgust said, "we still have contact with either Zareph or Teash?" "Searching now." Svarog replied, as it opened up to it's orb state as suddenly it closed back to it's normal state and turned back to Avgust. "We have a problem!" "What—" Avgust asked, before he was interrupted by the incoming sound of Teash's voice through his helmet: "—have an emergency! Lieutenant Boris is dead, and we are currently being pinned by... our coordinates are... I repeat, this is an emergency—" Avgust looked at Svarog, before he heard the staccato sound of gunfire in the distance. Immediately, the Titan turned on his heel and ran towards it as Svarog quickly followed before joining itself with the bond between the two. Category:Blog posts